not fly the recalled, potentially defective batteries, but it will fly the replacement batteries to Dell customers.
Dampier said whoever processes the returns and performs outbound shipping will need to ensure that labels identifying the packages are coded so carriers know how to crate and transport them safely.
Ultimately the success of a recall depends on how many items are returned and replaced. “The goal is 100 percent return,” Blakley said. “But you can’t make someone send a battery back.”
Dampier said Dell can boost both its return percentage and its dented customer service image by assuring consumers can mail the old and receive the new batteries at home. Newgistics’ just completed a Harris Poll survey showing just 13 percent of customers would be very likely to shop again with a company that makes them drive to complete or receive a return.
Privately held global procurement and logistics management firm Aankhen installed Fred Montoya, the former head of logistics at computer maker Dell, as its new president.
“As a key supply chain executive at Dell, Fred contributed to significantly enhancing Dell’s competitive advantage as the best supply chain management organization in the world,” said Subhash Chowdary, founder and CEO of San Jose, Calif.-based Aankhen. “The addition of Mr. Montoya to our management team is a major accomplishment and milestone for Aankhen.”
Not surprisingly, Montoya emphasized the importance of technology in managing global supply chains.
“Globalization of supply chains is all about saving money,” said Montoya. “For enterprises to remain competitive and take advantage of globalization, new technologies and processes are absolutely essential.”
In a world where shippers seem to have eliminating dead-head miles and boost-less influence than ever over funda- ing backhauls, extending service hours mental elements of transportation cost and taking charge of their freight bills. — fuel, capacity, infrastructure, drivers Most of all, Sahling said, shippers are
— supply chain managers are collaborat- collaborating. It’s not an easy path for ing over those factors they still can control. companies that have long mired in
“The people moving the freight are competitive, antagonistic and even searching for things they can do without adversarial relationships.
spending money, and the ingenuity of “The biggest obstacle is probably psy-what they are doing is impressive,” said chological,” he said. But circumstances
Leonard Sahling, vice president of re- are forcing shippers’ hands. “I don’t search at ProLogis Global Research. think anyone can be sanguine about
“Most people are trying to do better things not getting worse,” he said. with what their companies already have.”
Gone are the days when transportation managers sought better rates by threatening or intimidating their carriers. As one vice president of logistics at a large sports retailer told ProLogis, “Today, we’re successful if we can just hold rates flat.”
A distribution network executive told the commercial real estate developer, “None of these transportation problems is going to get fixed overnight. This is the new normal.”
Sahling’s research indicates logistics and supply chain management issues have a higher profile than ever in many companies’ C-suites, and it’s no wonder: fuel costs are up 40 percent or more from a couple of years ago and show no signs of coming down. The American Society of Civil Engineers in August released a report saying U.S. transportation infrastructure alone needs $94 billion a year in funding just to keep pace, but gets only $59 billion. The American Trucking Associations forecast the nation will be short 111,000 drivers by 2014 due to demographic trends.
The most successful collaborators are establishing formalized relationships between their organizations. They’re centralizing command and control over freight movement. They’re formulating collaborative business processes into the operations of their respective companies, such as two-way scorecards and periodic meetings to compare and improve results. Shippers are using self-invoicing programs to enhance carriers’ cash flows; carriers are adopting visibility technologies to increase capacity and improve on-time performance.
“These issues have become as important as driving costs down,” Sahling said.
Shippers are responding by taking a more hands-on approach. Companies are consolidating their distribution networks to assure freight arrives in full, economical truck- and container-loads. They’re increasing cube use in trailers,
Third-party logistics providers’ response to these new service demands will determine what role they play, Sahling said. “In light of the changes that were mentioned,” he said, “I have to believe that everything is on the table and companies are really reviewing their entire supply chain strategies. So I think that would include how they are using and will use 3PLs going forward.”
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